


God Only Knows

by theonetryingtolive



Series: Cope (Smothered in Smoke) [2]
Category: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Genre: Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:09:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29465547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theonetryingtolive/pseuds/theonetryingtolive
Summary: He was standing on top of a building, talking to someone. And then he was falling.
Relationships: Cliff Booth/Reader
Series: Cope (Smothered in Smoke) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2161860
Kudos: 4





	God Only Knows

You listened to Mick Jagger’s voice coming from the radio and decided that yes, he was right. There was no way to get some satisfaction. You poked the pie dough with a finger, looking at it suspiciously. It’d been a while and it was the same size as before. 

Just as you were re-reading the recipe the music changed and you were humming along with The Monkees’ I’m a Believer. Yeah, right, the dough wasn’t rising no matter how hard you believed.

The phone rang just as you were about to give up on the dough.

“Hello?” 

“Is Cliff there?” A male voice asked. 

“Who’s this?” You replied. 

“Oh, sorry. I’m Rick. Rick Dalton, from work. I work with Cliff. Is he there?”

Cliff had been gone since five in the morning. “Not at the moment.” There was a curse and you sighed internally. 

“Sorry. I know we haven’t met formally and this is not how I wanted to meet you, but I have to ask you for a favour. I think Cliff might’ve forgotten to return a leather jacket he borrowed and I was hoping to wear it tonight on a date.” 

You looked around and sure enough the jacket was hung by the door. You glanced at Brandy and then at the still not rising pie dough. “I could bring it to the studio, if that would help?”

“You would?” There was such relief in his voice you started smiling. “Let me give you directions.”

After writing that down and deciding that the dough should have risen by the time you went back, you grabbed your purse, sweater, the jacket and a little canvas bag with Tupperwares. If you were going to the studio you might as well be useful. 

The bus left you some five minutes away   
to the studio. Once at the entrance you were surprised when nobody asked you who you were. That offered a complication too, because now you didn’t know how you would get to where Rick and Cliff were. So you decided to start walking and once you bumped into someone who didn’t look busy, you’d ask for directions. 

It wasn’t quite as easy as that. Twice people thought you were there to film, once they thought you were part of the catering. Eventually, though, you found someone kind enough to point you in the right direction. Someone working for Rick (John? Or was it James?) directed you to Rick’s trailer and you placed the jacket where you were told. Well, one thing done at the very least. 

John-James (you were pretty sure it started with a J) told you Cliff often hung out where some of the golf carts were parked but when you poked your head around the corner to check, he wasn’t there. You were on your way back to Rick’s trailer, to hopefully find someone who could point you in the direction of the exit, when you saw Cliff. 

He was standing on top of a building, talking to someone. And then he was falling. You gasped, your hands flew to your mouth to cover it. You couldn’t see where he’d fallen and nobody was calling for help and- You rounded a corner and stopped dead in your tracks. Cliff was rolling off an inflatable airbag. You sighed in relief. 

Logically you knew what Cliff did for his job was dangerous but you had never actually seen it live. You weren’t sure you liked it. So you stood there, eyes wide as you looked at Cliff. He was unharmed, had a look of intense concentration on his face. It wasn’t until someone pointed you out to him that he turned to look at you. A big smile appeared on his face. 

“Hey, doll,” he said as he approached you. “What’re you doing here?”

You closed your eyes for a second, breathing in deeply. He was still smiling when you opened them. “Rick called, he needed his jacket back so I brought it to him. Oh!” You handed the canvas bag to him. “Here. For you. It’s meatloaf, a salad, there’s some warm soup in the big thermos. I brought you some of the bread I made yesterday too. The pie is still not done yet, but you can have a slice when you come home.”

Cliff had started hugging you sometime after you mentioned meatloaf. He still had his arms around you. “Thank you.”

When you pulled back, you smiled at him. “It’s no trouble. I like taking care of you. I should pack you lunch more often.”

Someone called his name and Cliff leaned down to give you a kiss. “You can stay and watch if you want.”

Your eyes widened. “I don’t think I can watch you falling off a building again.”

He winked at you. “Catch you at home, then?”

“Yeah, I’ll be waiting.” You stood on your tip toes to kiss him once more.

Back home, the Beach Boys sang God Only Knows on the radio as the pie came out of the oven. You glanced at the clock and smiled. 

Yes, God only knows what you’d do without him.


End file.
